Friday, June 04, 2010

National Men’s Health Week is coming up -- June 14-20 -- and the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Ad Council are making an early appeal to get middle-aged men to learn which preventive medical tests they need and when to get them.

Why the need for this campaign? New research has found that men are 31 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year! In fact, men make fewer routine health care appointments compared with women (56.5 percent vs. 73.8 percent).

For Father’s Day, why not give your guy the gift of good health? There are several ways in which you can encourage him:

Send him an e-card for Father’s Day that encourages him to go to the doctor for health screenings (www.dadtothedoc.org).

Encourage him to visit ahrq.gov/healthymen. This site provides recommended ages for preventive medical tests, a health care quiz designed to test knowledge of preventive health care, tips for talking with doctors, a glossary of consumer health terms, and links to online resources to find more medical information. Also, keep an eye out for the new Public Service Announcements encouraging dads to take care of their health.